John Daly (Or, Sans Vodka, the Arnold Palmer)

Often times, when we’re talking about the etymology of drinks, we point to the bartender or bar that made a cocktail popular — not its original inventor, but its greatest spokesperson. For a good example of this, look at Wikipedia’s brief history of the Cosmo, which points to several different possible creations of the drink, then admits that as much as anything else, the credit for its popularity belongs toSex and the City.

I was reminded of the video just posted on Grantland’s YouTube network, detailing the history of theArnold Palmer — a mixture of iced tea and lemonade, preferred (in the right ratio, with more tea than lemonade) by the legendary golfer. The video does a good job of explaining just how the “ownership” of a drink dwells not on who invents a cocktail, but on who popularizes it. And who cares whether the “Arnold Palmer” was originally a cocktail, or just a particular soft drink?

Well, the Arnold Palmer, with iced tea, and lemonade, in whatever ratio you prefer, with vodka added, becomes a John Daly. (Named after the erstwhile golfer, known for his hard-partying ways.) We’re not implying that John Daly is a more-fun version of Arnold Palmer, but it’s at least a drink recipe, and this isn’t exactly a soft-drink blog. Either beverage is more of a summer drink, but we’re including it now because these drinks, together, would make an easy low-key spread for a holiday party. Use store-bought lemonade and tea if you must, but neither of the recipes here is very hard to make, and both can be finished a day or two before your event. Set them all out and let your guests make their own John Daly (or Arnold Palmer) in whatever proportion they prefer. This one’s Arnold Palmer’s favorite.